The Dr. Westin Childs Podcast

If you are interested in losing weight or simply maintaining weight then you need to pay close attention to your basal metabolic rate. This rate controls how many calories you burn at rest and it’s the most important factor when it comes to your weight. The question is, can you do anything to augment your basal metabolic rate to improve how many calories you burn at rest? And the answer to that qu...

Exercise is probably one of the best treatments for your thyroid that you aren’t taking advantage of. Don’t believe me? Here are just some of the benefits: 1. Higher free thyroid hormone levels. 2. Lower TSH level. 3. Faster weight loss. 4. Increased muscle mass and better muscle health overall. 5. Improved mood. 6. More consistent bowel movements. 7. Reduced inflammation. If you wanted to take ad...

Selenium may be one of the best and easiest ways to reduce thyroid antibodies if you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Graves’ disease. Selenium is a trace mineral that is necessary for the function of certain enzymes and proteins. One of the functions of selenium is to create glutathione which acts to protect the thyroid gland from oxidative stress. When selenium is low, your thyroid gland is open...

Taking the right supplements has the potential to dramatically improve your thyroid and either help it work better or prevent future problems from occurring. Whether you’re trying to optimize your thyroid function because you have an existing problem like hypothyroidism or because you just want to prevent a future thyroid problem from occurring, these are, in my opinion, the 5 best supplements to...

Yes, you’ve been lied to: brazil nuts are not the source of selenium that you’ve been led to believe! Yes, they are definitely the single best food source of selenium out there, but they have a few dirty little secrets that you should know about BEFORE you start eating them. These secrets are so impactful on their overall benefit that I think it often makes more sense to supplement with selenium a...

Your thyroid gland is the most important endocrine gland in your body (yes, I said it!) because it controls and regulates just about every cell in your body as well as just about every hormone in your body. It also happens to be sensitive to inflammation and if this happens, you will feel it. These are the most common signs of thyroid gland inflammation: 1. Fluctuating thyroid hormone levels. 2. F...

Using the right supplements has the potential to help you manage your thyroid symptoms and support your thyroid. Using the wrong supplements can do the exact opposite. In fact, using the right supplements is even worse because not only will they not help you feel better, but you’re also wasting money. This video outlines some of the WORST supplements and WORST formulations that thyroid patients ca...

There are plenty of foods that can improve the health of your thyroid but few are better than chia seeds. Chia seeds are filled with incredible ingredients in the form of healthy fat,, plant-based protein, nutrients, and other bioactive compounds. When you combine this with the fact that they are easy to consume and last a long time on your shelf, they are a powerhouse food for thyroid patients. H...

Wait, aren’t fruits harmful because they contain sugar?! Not by a long shot. Fruits are not only healthy for your entire body, they can also help support your thyroid gland. If you are someone with thyroid disease, or if you are just looking to support your thyroid to keep it healthy, this information is for you. Fruits work to help your overall health by providing a natural source of fiber, phyto...

Magnesium is incredibly important for cellular health as it is involved in over 300 different enzymatic reactions. When magnesium levels are low, you WILL feel it. This leads a lot of people to use supplements to replace low magnesium levels. But here’s the problem: When you go looking for magnesium supplements you will be met with a huge array of different types. And these types and formulations...

There are a lot of different ways that you can naturally improve how well your thyroid functions and this one is probably the most overlooked of them all: Managing your muscle mass. Your muscle mass is considered a thyroid-responsive tissue and represents around 30 to 40% of your body mass. Put another way, it may be one of the biggest targets of thyroid hormone action. The more muscle mass you ha...

GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications that everyone is talking about right now because of their beneficial effects on weight loss. And while they are effective at helping with weight loss, there have been multiple studies that suggest that there is a link between their use and the new onset of thyroid cancer. Let’s talk about this connection in more detail to see if it is something you should...

Maintaining optimal thyroid function should be priority #1 for thyroid patients. Unfortunately, the standard methods doctors use to track thyroid function are not as accurate as you might think. The good news is that you don’t have to rely solely on these thyroid lab tests to determine your thyroid function. You can track other metrics on top of your thyroid lab tests which will give you very valu...

Is your thyroid contributing to an overall look of fatigue or tiredness on your face? If so, you aren’t alone. And today I’m going to teach you how to get rid of this look so you that you can wake up feeling and looking refreshed. The stereotypical thyroid tired look comes from a variety of things including the impact that thyroid function can have on your face and eyes. Due to changes in your sle...

I probably don’t need to convince you that not all thyroid medications are created equal. If you’ve been a thyroid patient for any length of time then you know that there are some thyroid medications that just seem to work better than others. The question is why? There are several reasons for this but one of the main reasons has to do with the inactive ingredients. Every single thyroid medication...

Are you struggling to keep your appetite under control? If so you aren’t alone as this is very common among people with thyroid problems. Never been diagnosed with a thyroid problem? That doesn’t necessarily mean you are out of the clear as there are many people walking around with undiagnosed thyroid conditions. The good news is that you can get your appetite under control and here are a few tips...

Berberine is one of my favorite supplements out there and has been for several years. The reason is simple: berberine helps treat the biggest and most important conditions that people face including weight gain, insulin resistance, and gut dysfunction. It’s not only healthy for people who are already healthy, but it’s also amazing for people who want to stay healthy! You can use it to assist with...

Is there a connection between the use of artificial sweeteners and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? Well, there’s at least one case study that showed an interesting connection: One woman was able to completely put her Hashimoto’s into remission by doing one thing: avoid artificial sweeteners. Does this mean that the use of these compounds cause Hashimoto’s or that they should be avoided by everyone? It do...

Improving your gut health is one of the most important things you can do as a patient with Hashimoto’s. Targeting your gut can increase T4 to T3 conversion thereby providing your body with more T3, it can improve thyroid medication absorption, it can reduce inflammation, help you lose weight, and improve your overall health. Targeting your gut is a no-brainer and one of the easiest ways to do this...

Thinking about using high-dose iodine to "help" your thyroid? Think again. I can’t think of many good reasons to use high-dose iodine for one simple reason: The benefits don’t outweigh the risks. Are there benefits to using high-dose iodine? Sure, but those benefits can be obtained using other, less dangerous, therapies and treatments. Some people disagree with this idea by suggesting that high-do...

T4 is the most abundant thyroid hormone in the body by far. Roughly 80% of all thyroid hormone floating around in your body right now is in the form of T4. It may not be the most powerful, but it’s obviously very important to thyroid hormone regulation because your body can draw upon your T4 store to create various types of thyroid hormone as needed. If you are someone who is trying to optimize yo...

You might have heard me say before that if your doctor is trying to convince you that your thyroid symptoms are from something other than your thyroid, then it’s time to see another doctor. While that is very often the case, there are absolutely other medical conditions that can mimic hypothyroid symptoms. These medical conditions can cause symptoms that are so close to that of hypothyroidism, tha...

Iodine is critical for overall health, especially thyroid health. But the question is, how much should you be getting each day? This is an incredibly contentious topic because everyone seems to have a different opinion. What I’m going to do today is break down iodine dosing in a simple and easy-to-understand way so you understand how much you should be taking to minimize negative outcomes while ma...

Vitamin K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin that provides benefits that just about every thyroid patient wants. Unlike vitamin K1, vitamin K2 has a much more broad-reaching impact on multiple systems in the body including calcium regulation, cancer prevention, hormone balance, and more. And unlike vitamin K1, vitamin K2 is more difficult to get and not as well known. This presents an awesome opportunity f...

No matter how you look at it, your diet has the ability to negatively or positively impact thyroid function. Today I want to talk about what type of changes you can make to the foods that you eat to improve your thyroid if you have hypothyroidism. These tips and tricks will help your thyroid function more optimally so that you can not only produce enough thyroid hormone but also convert that thyro...